Anticipation
by bcsm
Summary: A little one-shot about Beckett and Castle getting ready for their first big public event. Set season 6 after their engagement was made public. I don't own anything connected to the wonderful show that is Castle. Reviews are welcome...


It had been a couple of weeks since Beckett had slid her engagement ring on her finger. She never wore the ring to work, as it didn't seem appropriate, and though she tried to remember to slip it on when she and Castle went out to dinner, etc. more often then not, they were out the door before she remembered to put it on. Well, one thing was for sure, she was not about to forget it tonight. She smiled as she looked down at her left hand, admiring her ring for a moment, then turned towards the bed where a beautiful gown was laid out. As she looked at the gown she was reminded of the first time she had dressed in formal attire with Castle. The extravagant red dress that had showed up at her door, just as she and Lanie were struggling to find something in her closet that was remotely suitable for the undercover mission Castle had arranged. She remembered how suave he had seemed and how out of place she had felt that night.

It was remarkable how much had changed since then. Every now and then she felt the need to pinch herself, just to make sure it was all real. The truth of the matter was that Beckett had gone from being a Richard Castle fan to being his fiancee. Sure the road that took her from fan to fiancee had been long and sometimes bumpy, but the fact that her life these days, sometimes felt like a real life fairytale, certainly didn't escape her.

Tonight she and Castle were headed to a black tie charity event, one of the biggest, most exclusive annual charity events that took place in the city. Castle was always ready to lend his support to a worthy cause. Beckett first noticed his philanthropic nature when he had created the scholarship fund in her mom's honor. She had heard him say on more then one occasion, how lucky he felt that he had been able to attain a certain level of success and wealth and was happy to give back when he could. This quality was just one of the many, many things she loved about Castle.

Beckett carefully picked up the gown and and stepped into it. She so rarely dressed up to this degree and this gown was breathtakingly gorgeous. She had acquired one or two pretty special dresses since she and Castle had gotten together and had been perfectly happy to wear one of them to this event, but Castle had surprised her with this gown. He was remarkably good at picking out items that were perfect for her and though he didn't over do it, he certainly enjoyed surprising her now and then.

Beckett walked over to the mirror and glanced at herself. This was going to be the first time she and Castle where going to attend a big event since their engagement was made public. They had avoided big, public events when they were dating because Beckett wanted to keep out of the limelight as much as possible. Castle had respected her wishes and quite frankly had been happy to take a little break from the public life in order to spend more time with the woman he had waited four years to be with. In fact, instead of attending this event last year he had simply had made a donation. This year however, since their engagement had been announced, he thought it might be a fun, first public event for them to go to together, if she was up for it of course. As much as Beckett valued her privacy, she also understood that if she was going to marry a public figure then this was, from time to time, part of the deal. Besides she had always heard that this was one the most fabulous, star studded events of the year and truth be told, she kind of wanted to experience it first hand. So when Castle had asked, she had told him yes, they should attend. Now the big day had arrived and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was feeling a little bit nervous, excited for sure, but nervous none the less.

As if sensing her nerves, Castle walked into the bedroom with a glass of wine for her. He stopped short upon laying eyes on her, smiled and said,

"Wow Kate... you look absolutely beautiful!"

"Why thank you." Beckett replied, then added, as she quickly looked him up and down,

"You don't look so bad yourself babe."

"Yea, I can work a tux." Castle responded with a sly grin. He handed her the glass of wine then asked,

"Do you need me to zip you up?"

"Yes please." Beckett replied as she turned around.

Castle took a step closer to her and slowly zipped up the back of her dress. For a moment Beckett had a vivid image of him unzipping the dress much later that night. Castle fastened the clasp at the top of the zipper then lowered his head and softly kissed her bare shoulder. She back turned around to face him, then reached out and gently touched his cheek. He smiled at her and asked,

"So… are you ready for tonight?"

"I have a few butterflies." She admitted as she took a deep breath, "but yea, I think so." After pausing for a moment she asked him,

"How much media attention do you actually think we'll receive?"

"It shouldn't be that bad." He assured her. "There will definitely be bigger fish then us in attendance and they will get the most attention. Walking the red carpet will be the worst of it. We will likely get some questions about our engagement or when the wedding might be. Maybe something about you being the inspiration for Nikki Heat, things like that."

"Okay... I think I can handle that." Beckett said as she took a sip of the wine Castle had brought her.

"I know you can." Castle quickly respond "Don't worry, it will be fine. I'm actually quite looking forward to showing you off tonight." He added.

Beckett shot him a look.

"Castle... please don't do anything to draw extra attention to us." She pleaded

"I won't… I promise" he replied "I just meant that I am very excited to attend this event with my remarkable, not to mention stunning, fiancee by my side…that's all."

Beckett smiled at him. Despite the nerves, she was equally excited to be by his side tonight.

"Me too." She replied as the familiar sound of Castle text alert sounded. He walked over to the dresser and picked up his phone.

"The car's downstairs." He said, then asked, "Do you need any more time or are ready to go?"

"I think I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be." she replied.

He gave her a reassuring smile then said,

"Alright then, I guess we're off." Castle reached out to take her hand.

Beckett quickly took one more sip of wine, then she put down the glass and grabbed her clutch. She reached for Castle's hand and laced her fingers between his. This was certainly going to be a night to remember she thought, as they waked out of the bedroom together. A real life fairytale for sure.

The end.


End file.
